


Not Your Average Carnivore

by SamIsNotLegend



Series: The Kushure "Clan" [1]
Category: Naruto, Tokyo Ghoul
Genre: BAMF!Rize, Canon-Typical Violence, Gen, I don't think this has been done, Rize and Jiraiya are FRIENDS, Rize has emotions, Rize in Narutoverse Au, Rize introduces the elemental nation to ghouls, Rize is Rize, Rize is Sakura's loving mom, Rize is briefly unaffected by the passage of time, Rize starts a clan of one, Rize will fite anyone for her daughter, Rize will fite the hokage for her daughter, There is talk of cannibalism, Warring clans period, baby!sakura, but that literally has no effect on the plot at all, cross-over, ghoul!sakura, is rize showing actual emotion or is she a master manipulator??, its genma under the mask btw, its kushure and not kushu because it sounds cooler okay, kind of, oh yea Rize and Sakura's last names are different, rize is pregnant for awhile, sakura is like super cute okay, she also can't remember the fathers name, she doesn't want to eat him at least, somehow Rize ends up in the elemental nations, sometimes, there is talk of eating humans, title is shitty im gonna change it around until i find a good one, who knows - Freeform
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-10-07
Updated: 2017-10-07
Packaged: 2019-01-10 06:28:22
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 9,400
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12293250
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SamIsNotLegend/pseuds/SamIsNotLegend
Summary: She stood, solidly and on two feet, her worries and fears falling from her shoulders like cascading water. This place was new; no one could follow her here. She smiled, and basked in the truest freedom she’d ever known.Then she moved, stalking forward on predator’s legs, with a carnivores’ eyes. She was hungry, and what better way to christen her new home with a good meal? Thoughts focused on her empty stomach, she spared a moment to wonder what she should call herself in this new, wonderful world.





	Not Your Average Carnivore

This place was new. 

Her gaze took in the canopy of leaves above, the blue of sky peeking through, the wet grass under hand, and the cool breeze around her shoulders. 

Everything was the same, but nothing was similar. She breathed in, the air cool and clean in her lungs, almost sweet tasting against a tongue which had grown accustomed to smog and heavier things. The trees grew from the ground with purpose, their branches and bark twisting in patterns, thrumming with life. The piercing blue of sky drew her into awe, and she knew without a doubt that come nightfall, the sky would be filled with more stars than she’d ever seen. 

She stood, solidly and on two feet, her worries and fears falling from her shoulders like cascading water. This place was new; no one could follow her here. She smiled, and basked in the truest freedom she’d ever known. 

Then she moved, stalking forward on predator’s legs, with a carnivores’ eyes. She was feeling pretty hungry, and what better way to christen her new home with a good meal? Thoughts focused on her empty stomach, she spared a thought to wonder what she should call herself in this new, wonderful, world.  
.  
To her everlasting delight, she found no sign nor whisper that her kind were even so much as graced with a fable in this land. Instead, what she found was something far more interesting. Humans, who lived in extended family groups, and seemed to be at constant war with each other. Better yet, she found, were the amazing feats these humans seemed capable of. Some humans were normal and boring, yes, but others spit fire from their lips or tore the earth apart with their hands. They were silent as the dead when they wanted, and crawled across any surface like insects. Some family groups were stronger and bigger than others, and some were even more extraordinary than the already extraordinary humans. She met a family who used their very own bones as weapons. She watched, captivated, as they regrew spines again and again to use as melee weapons. Then another family with eyes as pale as ash were rumored to be able to see for miles and see through objects. 

Once, in the midst of a hunt, a girl with a bow asked her which clan she came from. Amused, she had responded honestly. “I am a Kushure. I am a Ghoul.” The word her world used for ghouls, and re, to symbolize her rebirth into this land.

The girl with the bow never had the chance to share this information with anyone, but the next time one of these amazing humans demanded her name, she had an answer. “I am Rize,” she said with pride. “The only Ghoul to grace this land.” 

So she became Kushure Rize, the founder, and only member, of her clan.  
.  
Over time, her clan grew, if not in members than in reputation. Mothers in the land of rain kept their children in bed with stories of how the Kushure loved the rain best, since it dispersed the blood of their victims. Young clan members in the land of fire balked at their elders stories of laughing women with eyes deeper than an abyss. 

For a time, Rize helped the rumors along. She dyed and cut her hair, changing her appearance enough to make it seem like there were more of her. She grew bored of that quickly, but it didn’t matter, the rumors spread quickly. A small clan of seemingly only women, with skin that couldn’t be pierced by normal means, and eyes that glowed from the dark. Few people ever lived to claim they’d seen one, but those that did agreed upon one thing: they were a clan of hunters. 

Rize reveled in her amazing new world. The humans’ special abilities put them on a level playing field with her, and it was magnificent. Challenging, and interesting, the world was in a constant state of change. One moment a clan would be amassing power and rising in strength, the seemingly new power player, and the next they were gone, wiped from the earth by someone else as if they had never existed in the first place. 

Rize enjoyed a challenge in her hunts, she truly did, but she learned quickly that there were some humans whom even she could not hope to defeat. She was not invincible; she had learned this very well in her last world. So she learned to pick these humans out. The truly strong had a certain smell about them, crisp, and almost too fresh, like a powerful mountain wind. Then there were others, who would sooner trap her with tricks and ploys than participate in her hunt. Still some whom she initially deemed weak would display a sudden ferocity and viciousness which even she could not match. She learned to look for these dangers in people’s eyes. 

She didn’t go looking for these people, but occasionally they found her. Sometimes they sought her aide, other times her destruction. She helped very rarely, and only when it was a benefit to her. The first time someone truly strong sought her destruction, she only survived because they didn’t know enough about her. She had kept her regenerative abilities hidden, knowing that a day might come when someone stronger than her would reverse the hunt. The prey-turned-hunter left her dead, with her head almost completely detached and three of her four limbs missing. Anyone else would have died, but as soon as he was gone, she cannibalized much of her remaining arm to reattach her head and then used what remained to conduct another hunt. 

She hid for a long time after that, only emerging to hunt, and only hunting what wouldn’t fight back. When she finally re-emerged from hiding, she found that the world was changing at an even faster pace than before. 

The clans were allying themselves into huge groups of power. Allied clans were nothing special before, but the alliances were tenuous, fragile things. A friend one day was an enemy the next. But these alliances were different. Two of the strongest clans, and the bitterest of enemies when Rize went into hiding, had formed a strong bond, and were now building a village together. A village of shinobi, as they called themselves. Smaller clans flocked to them, and Rize watched from a safe distance as the first Hidden Village was formed. 

Others followed, and perhaps before she knew it, the era of warring clans was over. 

In some ways this was better for Rize, but in others it was a lot more boring. She could travel with relative safety and anonymity, but if she hunted a shinobi, it was an entire village’s worth of retaliation, rather than just one family. She also couldn’t pick up tasks from the boring humans anymore, those all went to the villages. Perhaps it was this boredom that inspired her to seduce the green-eyed shinobi who stumbled across her path one day. She had relocated herself to the mountains near the edge of the land of rain, at least she thought that what was what it was being called now, couldn’t be sure with how everything changed so quickly. An abandoned temple to a violent god became her home, and the shinobi came to investigate when someone from a nearby village reported a series of disappearances. 

She was at fault for the disappearances, of course, and she idly made plans to relocate, perhaps to the land of fire, as she served the shinobi coffee and answered his questions. He had initially spat out his coffee in surprise, having never had anything like it before, and Rize had laughed and offered him sugar and crème. 

“It’s a drink of my own invention.” She claimed, and in this world, it was true. “It’s become rather popular in the surrounding area, I believe.” 

When he asked for the recipe, she had winked and said that she didn’t give such important secrets up easily. From there, she wasn’t sure if it was boredom or attraction which inspired her, but the green-eyed shinobi spent the night, and in the morning, the world looked a little different.

Almost as if time had finally decided that it was okay to slow down. She realized that she’d been moving through the world at ridiculous pace, so quickly that the years, decades, that she’d spent in this world had barely touched her at all. She stood from the bed where the shinobi still slept, and opened the curtains to see the world as she had the first time she’d seen it; new, big, and very beautiful. 

The shinobi left before breakfast, and for someone who had sparked such a big change, she could not remember his name by dinner. 

It took Rize a while to realize that she pregnant. Ghouls were not built the same way as humans, and so there was no obvious absence of blood to inform her of a child. It was only when a heartbeat, separate from her own, appeared that she realized what the green-eyed shinobi had truly given her. 

From there it finally made sense. It wasn’t the act of sex with the shinobi that had made her acknowledge the presence of time, but instead it was bearing a child of this world. The child was of this world, and so therefore, was she. She couldn’t ignore its rules anymore. 

Rize wasn’t quite sure how she felt about that, especially as she doubted the child would live. It’s mother a ghoul, the father a human. Back in her world, even if such a child lived, they didn’t live long. She knew this well. 

With her final acceptance as a member of this world, something else began growing alongside the child. No one possessed Chakra in her own world, and so Rize had not either, had never possessed what enabled the humans to perform such amazing feats of nature. 

She felt her coils appear slowly, gently growing alongside the child, until, her belly beginning to show, she could raise a blue glow to her fingertips. 

The glow of chakra gave her hope. The humans of this world were not like the ones she had known before. They were strong, and did not give up. Her child would be strong too. She cradled her belly and felt her own coils grow alongside the child’s. No, her child would be even stronger than that. For they would be a Kushure. The first true member of her clan. 

But then… the clan's as she knew them were gone. Rize considered this as she traveled slowly across the shinobi lands, aiming for the mountainous border of western fire. If she wanted her child to be able to utilize the chakra they would be gifted with, they would need someone to teach them. Rize herself knew next to nothing, wary of experimenting and potentially hurting her baby. 

She considered the last several decades of her life, the constant fighting and war before the villages that came together, and then the careful hunting, which were always followed eventually by investigations, and eventually, another kind of hunt. 

She wanted her baby to live. She wanted them to live to become strong enough that they would never feel the fear she felt cooped up in that lab in her old world, or when she cannibalized what little remained of herself to live. 

She had considered joining a hidden village before, but had decided against it in order to keep her freedom. This wasn’t just about her anymore though, and Rize began giving it serious thought. It would have to be one of the larger villages, as she had no interest in investing herself and her child in a place which was not guaranteed to even survive a war. So that left her with the five major villages. Sunagakure was much too hot and with very few hunting opportunities, so Rize wrote them off. Kirigakure was similarly isolated and although she enjoyed how the water easily erased her presence, their current leader was rumored to be a madman. She enjoyed the land of lightning, although she had had some rather unpleasant run-ins with some stuck-up ninja from there in the last decade. Kumogakure was similarly an okay choice, but they were rumored to be severely weakened from their recent war with the land of Fire. The village hidden in the leaves, Konoha, was the first hidden village and largely considered to be the strongest. She also hadn’t had any major run-ins with any of their ninja since the creation of the village. Their shinobi were largely kind, and seemed to be the most merciful of the bunch, which might prove to be a problem for her, but maybe a blessing for her child. They were coming out of a war, but unlike Kumo, were only stronger from it. The rumors of their new leader made him seem more god than man. 

Rize’s baby was now very big. Big enough so that people now stopped her on the roads in concern, offering her food, shelter, or a ride. Some even tried to stop her, claiming that no pregnant woman such as herself should be traveling on her own. She tried to remember that they meant well, but as time went on they became even more insistent and annoying, and then eventually, food. Perhaps if she were a normal woman she would have taken them up on their offers, but she knew very well that unless she wanted her baby to be in danger, she would have to give birth in private. At least back in her world, ghouls were born with black sclera and red iris’, which would not fade to a human color for at least a few days. Sometimes they were even born with their kagune out, although that was uncommon. Rize had been, however, so she would not write off the possibility.  
A month out from Konoha, Rize figured she’d better prepare. She left the main roads behind and searched for an isolated place to comfortably have her baby. She found it in a deep cave at the base of a mountain. She collected enough meat to keep her well-fed for at least a few weeks, and, in the middle of April as the wind blew cherry blossoms into her temporary home, she gave birth to her baby girl. Her daughter was gorgeous; fat and healthy and born wailing at her first breath. Both eyes boasting a sclera as dark as the midnight sky, and the iris a brighter red than the freshest blood. Her head, Rize noted with shock and admiration, was adorned with bright pink peach fuzz, the same shade as the cherry blossoms which bloomed on the trees at the base of the mountain. Rize warmed in delight at the sight, wiping blood and tissues from her daughter’s skin. “Sakura,” she cooed, swaddling her baby tightly. “My precious Sakura blossom.” She kissed the baby’s forehead. “Welcome to our world.” 

.

Rize emerged from the cave once she was sure her daughter’s eyes had settled into their human-green, and she herself had regained some of strength. She moved slower than she had before, stopping frequently to feed Sakura and tend to her occasional cries. Overall she was a very quiet child, Rize found, only ever fussing when she was hungry, needed to be changed, or had some other pressing need. She was curious too, wide eyes taking in the world greedily, and hands always eager to grasp at something. She seemed to love her mother’s voice as well, as little Sakura always fell silent when Rize spoke. Seeing her daughter’s reaction, Rize took to telling her daughter stories as she walked, and when she ran out of those, singing to her. 

A week out from the hidden village and the roads became much more crowded. The Village Hidden in the Leaves had a thriving economy and were a major trade center, which was one of the reasons why she’d chosen this shinobi village in particular. Lots of boring humans to hunt. But now these boring humans surrounded her, and were very curious as to why a woman and her newborn baby were travelling alone to a ninja village of all places. She avoided conversation when she could, and made up stories when she couldn’t. Many traders offered her a ride, but Rize denied them all. She wanted her and her daughter to make it to the village on their own. And anyhow, Sakura was still at the age where she couldn’t control her eyes whenever she was hungry. She wouldn’t allow some measly, boring humans, to put them in danger. So she kept her daughter well fed and they stayed to themselves as much as possible. 

A week out from the village, and she began to see Konoha nin, some flitted by quickly in the trees, too fast for normal humans to see, and some walked on the road. Many were headed away from the village, but those that weren’t were often a cheery, friendly bunch. They put the civilians around them at ease. Some spoke to her, and Rize gave them the same story she’d given the traders. That her husband had died and now she was returning to her family, who had relocated to Konoha for more opportunities after she’d married.  
She avoided looking into the trees as they went along, knowing that she shouldn’t be able to see the ninjas that traveled through them. 

Two days out from Konoha, a new ninja appeared, with long while hair, and red markings that ran mid-way down his cheeks. He smelled of a coastal storm, and also faintly of wetland. She did not want to catch the attention of a strong shinobi, but unfortunately, as she came to realize, she was exactly the type of women to catch his attention.  
He drew next to her with a warm smile, eyes betraying only faint surprise as he caught sight of the napping Sakura held to her chest. Subconsciously, Rize readjusted her child so her face would no longer be visible to the unknown ninja. 

“Say now,” he began, “What’s a beautiful young woman like yourself doing walking by herself?” He held a hand up to shade his eyes against the sun, “Is there a husband around that I’m just not seeing?” 

Perhaps a year ago Rize would have been inclined to test if the man would make a good target. If he hadn’t smelled of such a strong storm, he would have hit the mark. Flirty, self-assured, Rize felt like a bat of her eyes would have the man turn to putty in her hands. “No,” she intoned, “my husband died. I am on my way to Konoha to hopefully meet up with my family.”

The man’s eyes turned briefly pitying, and though Rize rather disliked the look, the empathy it brought and believability of the story was a good cover. 

The man introduced himself as Jiraiya, and in such a way that told her he thought Rize may recognize the name. She did not, and he deflated slightly, but pressed forward. He was a Konohagakure Ninja, and apparently a rather high-ranking one, although his forehead protector showed the character for ‘oil’ rather than the Konoha symbol, which she thought was odd. When she asked about it, the man was only too happy to explain to her that he was ‘the’ toad-sage, and so had taken on the symbol in respect to his allegiance of the mighty toad-summons. Rize nodded in a bit more understanding with that. She had fought summons before, they were rather pesky things, although undeniably useful to the shinobi who held their loyalty. She idly wondered how one obtained such a contract. How would she go about getting one for Sakura?

“Jiraiya-san,” She spoke softly, interrupting a story about one of his funny frogs, “Is obtaining a summoning contract very difficult?” 

That earned her a raised eyebrow, and Rize realized that perhaps that was a strange question for a civilian to ask. “It just seems to me,” she continued, “that it is a very complicated thing. So you must be a very strong ninja to have one.” 

Jiraiya’s chest inflated with pride, but he still tried for modesty, “well, it is true that only the strongest shinobi typically have summoning contracts, especially from a big clan like the toads…”

Rize beamed, beginning to like the man if for nothing else than his predictable personality. They talked for a while, and Rize began to learn more about him. He was middle-aged, which she had known, but it said a lot about his career as a ninja that he had lived for so long. He had two teammates, both of whom he seemed very fond of, even if he described his male teammate in annoyance. He was an author, he told her, and although his first book hadn’t done too well, he was giving a new genre a try. Rize could only wonder what kind after he asked her for her measurements of the sake of his ‘research’. 

“Actually,” He continued on, “You’d make a great model for one the supporting characters!” He peered at her face closely. “Long, purple hair… the color of the sky after a sunset… eyes the same shade, cute glasses… say, do all of your clothes have ruffles and bows?” Rize looked down at her modest long-sleeved navy blue dress, ending below her knees and the black leggings covering her legs. The end of the dress were indeed ruffled, and a white bow did adorn her waistline, but she didn’t think it was excessive. Perhaps a big odd for shinobi fashion though. 

“I suppose so.” She answered, after a moment. 

“Unique… but feminine fashion statements…” he scribbled down. “What size shoe do you wear? 

Rize hesitated, “A seven.” 

“Relatively small feet…”

He continued to scribble away, occasionally asking a question, which Rize indulged, even eventually giving up her measurements. He was delighted when she did, claiming that she was the first woman who hadn’t attempted to murder him after he asked. 

Perhaps woken by the Shinobi’s delighted crowing, Sakura woke, fussing, and giving a few hiccupping sobs which premeditated wailing if Rize did not act fast. Stopping the road, she lifted her daughter up and peered at her eyes, the veins around them beginning to darken, but her eyes hadn’t quite changed yet. 

“Excuse me, Jiraiya-san,” she apologized to the man whom had stopped walking when she did, “but I must stop to feed my daughter.” 

“Oh!” The Shinobi’s wide-eyes told Rize that he had completely forgotten about the baby in her arms. “I’ll wait with you, if you like! I don’t mind at all!” He added when she opened her mouth to protest. 

“Well then… thank you Jiraiya-san.” Rize was finding that she truly did not mind Jiraiya’s presence, even if he was pretty odd. Plus, she rationalized, it could only be a good thing to learn as much about Konoha as she could before she arrived. A good ways away from the road, Jiraiya laid his coat down for her to sit on, which Rize appreciated, more than she let on, as now she could use her spare blanket to cover herself up while she fed Sakura. She sat down gracefully, back against a tree, and folded her legs beneath her. Jiraiya politely looked away as she situated Sakura against her chest. 

“Jiraiya-san,” she broke the silence, her earlier thought rising to the forefront of her mind. 

“Hmm?” He looked up from where he was scribbling something in his notebook. 

“If I may ask… what is Konoha like?” The man was silent, and she took that as a prompt to clarify. “I mean to say, is it a good place to raise a child? I…” She hesitated, but decided to be honest. “I’m pretty selfish. I want to give my daughter everything I never had. Choices, as many opportunities as she could ever dream of, and I want her to grow into a strong woman. Can you tell me if Konoha can give her that…?” 

Jiraiya smiled. “Konoha is probably the most thriving economic center in the world. The education system is free for all citizens and your daughter will have all the opportunities she wants growing up. Whether she picks a trade, becomes a shinobi, starts a business, it’s all within her grasp.” Rize smiled and allowed her shoulders to relax marginally. “What about the people there? Are they friendly?” 

“Friendliest in the world!” Jiraiya reassured, “you don’t need to worry, and you’ll be welcomed with open arms no matter what. It’s also one of the safest places to raise a child. What with all the highly-capable shinobi racing around!” He waggled his eyebrows around at that and RIze laughed. “Are all the shinobi as kind as you too, Jiraiya-san?”

“Kind? Yes. Handsome? No.” 

She laughed again, relaxing against the smooth bark of the tree as Jiraiya regaled her with the many wonders of Konoha – hot springs, delicious food, beautiful women…  
After some time, when she was sure that her daughter was done feeding, Rize placed her head over her shoulder and placed a rag there in order to burp her. 

Surprisingly, Jiraiya seemed rather curious as to what she was doing. “You’ve never had children, Jiraiya-san?” She asked, showing him how she lightly tapped her daughters back in order to get her to spit up. 

“No… Never found the right lady for me, I’m afraid.” He seemed rather wistful at that. “I’ve had several students, however.”

Sakura spit up, and Rize gently laid her giggling daughter in the grass to clean up. “Shinobi-students?” Was that how shinobi were trained these days? 

Towel rinsed with water from her pack, Rize turned to check Sakura’s nappy. 

“Yep. I don’t want to sound like I’m bragging or anything, but I basically helped raise the fourth.” 

Rize paused. “The fourth? If I may ask, the fourth of what, Jiraiya-san?” 

“Oh! Uh, right, I forgot you’re not from Konoha… the fourth Hokage? Do you know what the Hokage is?” 

But Rize’s eyes had widened and her hands had stilled over her child, for she did indeed know what a Kage was. The war-dictator of Shinobi villages, they were the strongest Ninjas and wielded incredible power and influence. In all likelihood, the Kage of Konoha, would be who decided her and her daughter’s fate. Then this man in front of her raised him… 

“You… raised the yellow flash…” 

“Oh so you do know him! Yep, he’s my protégé! Man I hadn’t known that his nickname was known by civilians too.”

“Of course it is!” Rize exclaimed, going back to changing the slightly damp nappy. “It’s all people talk about in the Land of Fire!” She looked up, meeting the Toad-Sage’s eyes. “The entire country is in awe of him.” 

“Oh man,” Jiraiya rubbed the back of his head, a blush appearing on his cheeks, “hard not to be proud of the kid, y’know? First he wins a war, now he’s Hokage…”

“Jiraiya-san, I must apologize, for you must be an even greater ninja than I had previously thought, to be the teacher of the Hokage…”

Jiraiya’s cheeks grew redder until they were practically glowing, and Rize giggled, all the while wondering how much of everything he’d done until now was an act. They continued on, Jiraiya filling the silence easily with discussions about Konoha, the plot of his new book, the plot of his old book, his teammates, and even the Hokage. Apparently, he was a big fan of sushi. Nothing he told her was anything she wouldn’t hear herself on the streets of Konoha, and she supposed that that was sort of the point. She interjected her thoughts here and there, but largely stayed quiet, content to allow Sakura to play with her hair. 

Her daughter seemed to enjoy Jiraiya’s voice too, she noticed. 

Come nightfall, Jiraiya offered to lend her a tent as there were no villages or inns this close to Konoha. She accepted, and the Shinobi gallantly told her he’d keep ‘anyone shady’ away as well.

In the privacy of the small tent, Rize ate some meat she’d cured in weeks previous, to keep her strength up, just in case, and lay down to rest with her daughter. She appreciated Jiraiya’s presence, but she still wouldn’t let her guard down so close to a Shinobi village. You could never be sure, with shinobi. Even as she ate the lightly smoked meat, Rize wondered if Jiraiya would be able to smell it and tell that it came from no animal. Still, she rested, trusting her senses to alert her of danger. 

.

Morning came and found her and Sakura unmolested, and Jiraiya snoring loudly against the trunk of a tree. Sakura continued to sleep peacefully, so she ensured that her daughter was warm and comfortable before moving away to give herself a much-needed sponge bath and change clothes. If she had really been going to meet back up with her family, then she would have wanted to look her best when she arrived in Konoha. As it was, she wanted to look respectable for when she possibly gained an audience with the Hokage. Using water from her canteen, she washed her hair, removing dirt and oil as best as she could before wringing her hair out to let it dry in the sun. Form her clothes she chose a black long-sleeved shirt that fit snugly around her arms and torso and a pale-blue floor-length skirt patterned with purple roses a shade lighter than her hair. Once her hair dried a bit more she’d tie it back with a blue ribbon the same shade as her skirt. She couldn’t see her refection, but she hoped she looked okay. With Jiraiya still very much asleep, Rize  
returned to her daughter, and trying to not disturb her too much, fastened a sling around her neck and situated her daughter comfortably within. 

Sakura fussed but did not wake, content to snuggle up to her mother’s warmth in the early morning. With more ease than her limited experiences with tents would warrant, she packed the thing away, and then began breakfast for Jiraiya. It had been a long time since she had las made food for a human. The last time being that morning with Sakura’s father, actually. Still, she thought she did okay, lightly salting an egg frying over a small portable stove she usually used to cook meat when she felt like it. 

If he hadn’t already been awake before then, Jiraiya woke to the smell of the frying egg. Rize glanced at him as she turned the heat down and pulled a small bit of stale bread and fruit from her bag. On the occasion that someone expected her to eat human food, Rize liked to be prepared. 

Jiraiya blinked blearily at her as she offered him the plate his the egg on it, and then shook his head vigorously. “No, no I coulnd’t possibly! You eat it, I’m sure you and your baby need it!”

“Rize’s smile was more of a grimace. “I’m afraid food doesn’t sit well with me in the mornings ever since I had Sakura, Jiraiya-san. I made this food for you, as thanks for letting us use your tent.” At his continued hesitance, she added, “I’ll eat my own food in a few hours, once my stomach has woken up, don’t worry.”

“Well… if you insist…” Rize beamed as Jiraiya took the offered food, and then set about freeing Sakura from her sling, as she was waking up. Her daughter giggled as Rize picked her up. “Good morning, little blossom! How are you doing this morning?” She paused a moment to allow her daughter to babble a reply and then began again. “Oh, you slept very well, but made a mess in your diaper just now? Well let me get right on that dear, no trouble at all!” 

Rize laid out the sling and then lowered her daughter down, who was babbling away, Rize occasionally continuing her very one-sided conversation. “Now, Sakura-chan, please stop trying to roll over, I know you want to play on your stomach, but your mommy isn’t done cleaning you up yet! And you don’t want to get a mess everywhere do you? Alright… there we go! Now wait one more moment while I button up your onesie, it’s a bit cold out right now. Okay, Okay! Go ahead, roll over!” 

Once released, Sakura did indeed roll over, lifting her head to eagerly peer around. Rize took a moment to clean up her hands and then she turned back to the stove, where she set some water to boil. Glancing over to make sure Sakura was still well-engaged with the world around her, she removed a diminishing bag of ground coffee beans from her bag.  
The one and only problem with this world, Rize had found, was its lack of coffee. Still she persevered, and in the course of her time in this wolrd had taught many humans how to make it, in hopes that it would catch on. Unfortunately, she had no such luck so far, as it was still a relatively unknown substance. So she could understand Jiraiya’s curiosity as he finished his breakfast and she began filtering the water through the ground beans. 

“That’s not tea, is it?” He asked skeptically, peering into the pot. 

“No,” She agreed, “It’s coffee. Slightly bitter, so you may want to flavor it with sugar. She poured him a cup, and then herself, glancing over at Sakura as she did so. 

“Oh!” She jerked slightly in surprised, sloshing some of her drink onto her hand. “Sakura, baby, don’t put that in your mouth!” Rushing over to pull the offending leaf from her baby’s mouth (to her adamant protests), Rize sighed and brought her daughter to where they were sitting, pulling a small cat stuffy from her bag to give to her daughter. The cat gave a soft rattling sound as Sakura’s small hand grabbed it, and she settled down, immediately placated. Rize relocated her closer this time, and Sakura seemed content to play with her cat with lying on her back. Rize sat back down, picking up her abandoned cup of coffee. 

“Is your hand alright?” Jiraiya demanded, brows furrowed as he peered across the stove at her hand holding the cup of coffee. 

“What? My hand…?”

“You spilled your drink on it! The water just boiled…”

“Ah.” Rize supposed that had happened. She exchanged the mug to her other hand and examined herself critically. “It doesn’t hurt… I suppose I must have flicked it off fast enough to avoid a burn.” 

“Oh. That’s good then. Hey was that like, that mother-thing you hear about sometimes? You know stories of moms lifting really heavy stuff off of their kids or whatever?”  
She giggled, “I don’t think so, Jiraiya-san.” Internally Rize berated herself for slipping like that. Well, couldn’t be helped, she supposed. 

After waiting a few moments for her coffee to cool to an appropriate level, she took a sip, Jiraiya following suit. She laughed when his face scrunched up at the bitter-taste, and offered him some sugar. “I hear its good with crème as well, but I don’t have any…” She apologized as Jiraiya poured a generous amount of sugar into his drink. 

“This is more bitter than Jasmine tea! How can you drink it like that?” Rize shrugged one shoulder, taking a long sip.

“I enjoy it.”

Jiraiya took a moment to scribble in his little notebook. “Likes… bitter things…” Fortunately he seemed to enjoy the drink once it was sweetened, and finished his cup around the time Rize finished her third. Standing, she stretched, and began putting the stove away, the morning sun shining through the trees. Her hair had dried considerably, so she tied it back into a loose ponytail. 

“Are you ready to go?” She asked Jiraiya as the man put on those wooden shoes of his. 

“Yep!” He stood, and Rize wondered why he needed the extra height the shoes gave him when he was already so big. Putting the sling back on for the second time that day, she adjusted Sakura comfortably against her, and they set off. Sakura wasn’t particularly fond of the sling, preferring it when Rize held her so she could look around, but Rize needed her hands free today. Sakura soon fell asleep into a nap anyway. 

Konoha was only half a day’s walk from where they’d camped. They’d arrive a little after noon, Jiraiya said. RIze figured that if things went south, she wouldn’t want to be any closer to the village than they already were. 

“Jiraiya-san.” She began, “If I may interrupt, I’d like to tell you something.” Ceasing his rant against a certain kind of breakfast cereal, the massive shinobi turned his gaze to her. “When I was younger, I was not given a typical education. But I taught myself to read and so learned many things that way. When Konoha was first being formed, they allowed clans to join, is that correct?”

Jiraiya nodded silently. 

“If a clan wanted to join today, would the village allow it?” 

He was silent for several minutes, and Rize allowed him that, waiting patiently and listening to the steady clack of his wooden geta against the road. 

“I suppose it would depend on the circumstances,” he began at length. “It’d depend on the size of the clan, what they would be able to bring to the village, where they came from, and if their possible benefits would outweigh the detriments of their presence. If, for example, a few members from a prominent ninja clan located in another hidden village wanted to defect to Konoha, it would be a very different circumstance than if say, a civilian trading clan wanted to set up base in the village.”

“I see…” The answer was vague, but it wasn’t an outright ‘no’. 

“Jiraiya-san, I haven’t been very honest with you.” She stated bluntly, and looked over at him, catching the slight narrowing of his eyes and the way he quickly glanced at her up and down. He didn’t reach for any weapons however, and she took that as a sign to press on. 

“You see, I have no family in Konoha. That was something I made up so the traders would stop bothering my daughter and I. The real reason we are going to Konoha is to seek asylum.”

“Asylum from what, exactly?” He still hadn’t reached for any weapons. That was very good. 

“Many things.” She sighed. “I… am from a very old clan.” She glanced at him, gauging his reaction in a display of nervousness she honestly felt. “A shinobi clan. We were never big but we were… known. I’ve never received any Shinobi training,” she shook her head, reading the the question on Jiraiya’s lips. “But I do possess our bloodline limit.” Her heart thumped as she looked down at her sleeping child, arms instinctively coming up to cradle her. She choked past the lump in her throat. “Sakura has it too.” She admitted softly. “And I…!” She whipped her head around to meet Jiraiya’s eyes, unshed tears gathering in her own. “I’m fine! I’ve always been fine on my own, I can take whatever comes after me! But Sakura…! She’s just – she’s just a baby… she’s a baby and she can’t help herself, and I… I’m not – I’m not strong enough to protect her on my own. I know I’m not.” She ducked her head down at the admission, cradling Sakura closer to her. 

She waited, listening for the dreaded sound of steel against cloth as he drew a weapons, or for his hands to slide against each other for a hand seal. Nothing came, and after a moment, Rize peeked up to meet his kind smile. 

“Don’t worry, Rize-san. You seem very kind to me. I can’t promise much, but I can promise that the Hokage will hear you out at least. And,” He added after a moments of hesitation, “I can promise you that I’ll make sure no one hurts Sakura-chan.” 

Just Sakura, not her, but honestly that was expected and all she wanted anyway. “Thank you.” She swallowed back her tears enough to give a proper bow. “Thank you so much Jiraiya-san. I am… very much in your debt.” 

“Thank me after you talk with the Hokage, yeah? Now come on, If we hurry I can show you the best ramen stand in all of fire country for lunch!”  
Her stomach gave a lurch at that thought, and she jumped forward to catch up to his quick pace. “Ah, about that Jiraiya-san, there’s this little thing about my bloodline limit you see. I am… very allergic to most food.” 

“Most food?” He raised an eyebrow. “Like what?”

“Like… everything.” 

“Everything.”

“Everything except some drinks, such as coffee, and... meat.” 

“Just that? No fruits or vegetables or anything?” 

“We’re… carnivores.” She offered a small grimace at his widening eyes.

“Well. That’s something.” He said at length, and Rize nodded silently. “The little tyke too?” She nodded again. 

After that they were silent for a little while, Jiraiya moving away sometime mid-morning under the pretense of using the restroom, but she smelled the slightest fluctuation of chakra while he was gone, and when she returned the scent of wetlands on him was stronger. 

When they finally arrived at the gates of Konoha just around midday, she was not surprised to see a small entourage waiting for them. Sakura had woken up fussy an hour previous and had stanchly refused to remain in the sling any longer. So she held her outward against her chest, the sling empty but ready for use. A man with blond hair and pupil-less blue eyes greeted her first, perfect rows of white teeth gleaming, “Rize-san? Hello, we’ve been expecting your arrival.”

She took a breath and drew herself in. “Yes. I’m Rize, and this is my daughter Sakura. We are in your care, Mr…?”

“Call me Inoichi. And this here is Shikaku. May we escort you to the Hokage’s office?” There were a few masked shinobi hidden nearby that he didn’t introduce, but Rize expected that they would be escorting her as well. 

“Yes, that would be lovely.” She drew alongside the pair, Jiraiya not far behind. “If you would lead the way?” She smiled disarmingly, and Sakura babbled and reached forward in an attempt to grab at the dubbed Shikaku’s spiky hair. “No, no, Sakura, remember we don’t grab hair. Because that hurts, right? Ouch! Here, why don’t you take your kitty, instead? The two shinobi in front of her relaxed marginally, and began leading her through the village. Rize noticed two shinobi sitting at a desk inside the gate staring with wide eyes. She gave them a small smile before turning to marvel at the city in front of her. 

It was bustling, it was loud, bright, colorful. And for a moment Rize swore she was back in Tokyo, the rumble of subways beneath her feet, tall sky scrapers blotting out the sky, neon signs advertising the latest skin crème. It was all there. Then the memory faded, and Rize was once again in Konohagakure. When she paused to think about it, Rize had been amongst Shinobi for far longer than she was ever in her old world for. 

Mind refocusing, Rize allowed herself to marvel at the beautiful city. Sakura was equally delighted, hands clapping and giggles burst from her lips as she looked around. “Do you like it, little blossom?” She asked, smoothing her daughters pink hair to the side. “With any luck this will be our new home. What do you think?”

The shriek of delight as they rounded a corner to catch sight of the Hokage monument was answer enough. From the corner of her eyes, Sakura caught her guides shoot each other meaningful looks. 

Their destination was the tallest building in the village. Which wasn’t all that tall by Tokyo standards, but by elemental nation standards, it was impressive. On the first floor they asked her to give up her pack for inspection, which she did, with only a spare thought to the meat stored inside. Then on the second floor she moved through a gate not unlike the metal detectors she’d seen on earth. On the third floor she asked Jiraiya to hold Sakura, which he did very awkwardly, as she was given a very thorough pat down. The moved through the next half dozen flights un-molested, but two stories below the top floor, where she guess the Hokage was, a man with long dark hair and ash-grey eyes stopped them. 

The veins around his eyes bulged, and Rize had only a moment to realize that she was finally meeting a member of the fabled Hyuuga clan before the man was speaking. 

“You and your child have four cavities under your skin in your lower back. Explain.” As the shinobi around her tensed and waited for a reaction, Rize looked down at her daughter in delight. “Sakura-chan you’re a Rinkaku type too? Why didn’t you tell me?” Her daughter reached to tug at her hair, and Rize cradled her against her shoulder. “You take after your mommy~” She sang. To the shinobi, she said, “Those cavities are our kakuhou. They are organs unique to our bloodline limit. I’d be happy to demonstrate if you would like.”  
The Hyuuga’s eyes bulged one last time before he relaxed. “That won’t be necessary,”Inoichi answered at her shoulder. “But perhaps the Hokage would like a demonstration when he meets you.”

With that, the Hyuuga opened a set of double doors. She had a moment to consider that she was wrong, and that the Hokage’s office was not on the top floor before she was ushered into the room, her entourage falling in step behind her. 

Her first impression of the Hokage was that his hair was even more yellow than expected. Not even blond, just very yellow. 

He finished signing something with a flourish and then looked up. Her second impression was that his eyes were very blue. A nice combination. 

“Hokage-sama.” She bowed low at the waist, cradling the back of Sakura’s head as she did so. “It’s an honor to meet you. Allow me to formally introduce myself. I am Rize, and this is my daughter, Sakura.” She rose from her bow. “We are the last of the Kushure clan.”

Her statement did not draw much of a reaction, except for the slight stifling of breath in Inoichi on her left, and the subtle twitch of the Hokage’s brow.  
“It is likewise an honor to meet you, Kushure-san. Please, have a seat.” He gestured to the only other chair in the room aside form his own, situated across his desk. 

“Thank you, Hokage-sama.” Jiraiya moved to stand at the Hokage’s shoulder, and she felt Inoichi and Shikaku flank her on either side. The masked ninja were around too, but hidden from sight. In her lap, Sakura had fixed the Hokage with a wide, fascinated stare. 

“Am I right to assume,” The Hokage began, “That the Kushure clan you claim to be from is the very same which haunted the lands between Ame and Kiri during the warring clan period?”

Rize took a moment to think. Those had been tumultuous times. “From the stories, my clan was one always on the move. We never stayed in one place for long. But the Kushure have always been very fond of the rain, so yes, I imagine we would have stayed there fairly often.” 

The Hokage hummed in thought, which told her nothing. “Who else is there in your clan?” 

“For a long time it was just me, then I had Sakura. As far as I know, we’re it.” 

“As far as you know? So there may be others?”

Rize took a moment to think. “I very much doubt it, Hokage-sama. But at the very least I can guarantee that no one else in this world possesses our bloodline limit.”

“What is your bloodline limit, exactly?” 

“Hokage-sama, while I am willing to share with you, and perhaps Jiraiya-san, I would like to keep some of our clan secrets from becoming general knowledge.”

The Hokage gave another hum and with a flick of his wrist all the masked shinobi but one disappeared, and Shikaku ambled out of the room with a yawn. The final masked shinobi appeared at the other Hokage’s shoulder. 

“Bear is the head of my personal guard, and Inoichi is the head of Konoha’s intelligence division. He will hear anything you tell me today eventually anyway.” 

Rize nodded in acquiescence. “The Kushure bloodline limit cannot be narrowed down to any one aspect. In all honesty it is many things coming together at once. First is our eyes. She tapped the edge of her glasses. Currently my eyes are in my resting state, but in times of stress, our sclera becomes black and the iris’ red. Aside from the cosmetic, the only real purpose of this is improved night vision. And perhaps also because they are rather intimidating. Would you like to see?”

The Hokage nodded and gestured for her to go one. Removing her glasses, Rize blinked, feeling the change was over her eyes. Intimidating was one word for it, she knew, the stark contrast of red against black was a thing of nightmares, and the suddenly black veins shifting around her eyes didn’t help. “We call them our Kakugan.” She blinked, returning her eyes to normal, and replaced her glasses. “Not at all as fancy as the famed Sharingan or Byakugan, I’m afraid. The second part of our bloodline limit is our toughness. Just… our skin and bodies are tough. Our bones are dense and hard to break, our skin can’t be pierced by normal means. That’s not to say we’re invincible, of course, just a bit harder to kill than an average person.” She shrugged. “If it is alright with you Hokage-sama, I’d rather not demonstrate in front of my daughter.”

“Yes that is acceptable. Proceed, if you will.” 

“Of course. Along with our general toughness our senses tend to be exceptional as well. It varies from person to person, but for me, my sight is a little below average, while my hearing is a bit above, and my sense of smell is far above normal.”

“How far?”  
Rize thought for a moment. “I can smell that the Hyuuga guard in the hallway had Miso Ramen for dinner last night.”

“Okay, continue please.” 

“Yes. Without the aid of Chakra, Kushu are stronger and faster than average. For example, as the Hyuuga outside or any sensor will tell you, I have very little Chakra. I don’t even know how to use it, either. But I can still do this. Gripping the end of the Hokage’s desk with one hand, she lifted it up a few inches, managing to hold it level despite the awkward positon before gently lowering it back to the ground. 

“I see…” Seemingly not at all bothered that she’d messed with his desk, the Hokage waited for her to continue.

“Lastly, and perhaps most interestingly, my bloodline limit caters to my Kagune. I’ll need to stand for this demonstration, but don’t worry, I’m not going anywhere.” Once standing a safe distance from the Hokage, Rize let her Kakugan activate and then slowly released her Rinkaku, so as to not rip her clothes. The limbs gently nudged the offending articles of clothing out of the way, before growing to their full size. “My Kagune.” She presented, The top two arching over her head while the bottom two curved away from the ground, make a pincer-like shape on either side of her body. Sakura giggled in delight, making a grab for the nearest one. Rize felt proud, looking at the slightly awed faces of her audience. “They are very versatile,” she smiled, making the top left curl and then stretch, while another coiled like a spring. “but they also take work to maintain. She released them, the previously solid tissue dispersing behind her suddenly, almost like a red mist. She returned to her seat. “And unfortunately, it is not chakra which maintains them, instead we –”

As if on cue, the door behind them opened and a shinobi RIze recognized from the first floor hurried in, rushing over to the Hokage to whisper something in his ear. She met the bright blue of the Hokage’s eyes as they widened almost imperceptibly.  
She knew what this was about. “It’s not chakra which allows me to maintain my kagune, or even my body this way. It’s even simpler than that. I maintain it through my diet. I told Jiraiya-san that my clan was one of carnivores. We cannot digest anything but meat. This is true, but we are still highly allergic to most meat on top of that. The only thing we can take nutrients from…” She took a moment, noting the curiosity on Inoichi’s face, the dawning suspicion on Jiraiya’s, and the drawn resignation on the Hokage’s. “Are humans.” She finished quietly. 

“And that.” She broke the silence after half a minute. “Is the Kushure’s darkest, most shameful secret. We are gifted with bodies like the god’s, and in turn pay the devil’s price. We are a clan of hunters from hell.” Her mouth twitched upward in a smirk. She was not feeling half the shame or remorse she pretended she was. 

“You truly…” It was Inoichi who spoke first, looking remarkably pale. “Cannot eat anything but human meat?” 

“There is a drink my clan would make, made from a certain kind of bean grown in a tropical climate. And we could drink that. It holds little to no nutritional value, however. It just tastes nice.”

“Why?” Inoichi again, he was regaining some color. 

“The reason why,” she answered, “is an even deeper secret than our diet itself. I will not reveal it to anyone. But know that it lies in biological truth, and is not something we do for superstition, culture, or anything else. My daughter and I are biologically incapable of eating anything else.” Rize set her jaw as she refused to answer the question. She would not give anyone the information they needed to invent RC suppressants in this world. She’d rather die. 

The Hokage sat back in his chair with a breath. “Alright.” He said at length. “How often do you need food?”

“I need two bodies a month, at least until Sakura is old enough to begin eating solid food. Then I may need more.”

“We’ll see. For now, I’m issuing you a provisionary civilian citizenship, and will provide temporary housing for you and your child. As well as the food requested, and a modest stipend to get you started. You’ll need to go through some more extensive screenings to ensure your intentions are as you say they are. This will include a physical, an appointment with Inoichi, and one or two spent with our interrogation unit. These are non-negotiable.” 

Rize nodded curtly. So long as the clan secrets I’ve revealed here don’t leave this room that is fine. I have one more request, if I may.” 

“I’ll listen, but I can’t make any promises.”

“If, when the time comes and my daughter is willing, I’d like her to be able to learn the shinobi arts.” 

The Hokage nodded. “I’ll see what I can do about that.” 

“I’d also like to add that despite not being a shinobi, I’ve mastered my clan techniques, and am more than capable in a fight. Should you ever have need to utilize my skills, I’m willing and able.”

The Yondaime sucked in a breath, taking in the comfortable posture of the woman in front of him. Of the calm way she met his eyes, of the comfortable way she held her child.  
He knew better than to doubt her.  
.  
By the time the Ninetails ripped its way into the material world a few months later, Kushure Rize, formerly known as Kamishiro Rize, stood alongside her fellow jounin, ready with gritted teeth and a determination to protect her new home and family.

**Author's Note:**

> How does Rize fare against the ninetails?!?!?! What will become of baby Sakura?!?!?! How will Sakura being a man-eating ghoul effect the already-canon-shitty dynamics of team 7????? Will we ever see Genma's face???!!!!! All this and more to be revealed sometime at an unspecified point in the future!!!!!!!!! Tune in then to see what happens, maybe!!!!!!!!!! If I feel like it!!!!!!!


End file.
